Re-Imagining Mary
Magdalene:

Female Disciple, Witness, Icon

Religion 343b, Haverford Collegeamcguire@haverford.edu;
896-1028

This
is the entry page to the syllabus for Religion 343b, Re-Imagining Mary
Magdalene: Female Disciple, Witness, Icon. The full syllabus
is available only on Blackboard and within the Tri-College network.

Course Description:
Mary Magdalene: Female Disciple, Witness, Icon. This seminar will
focus on a critical examination of the varied representations of Mary Magdalene
as disciple, witness, and icon in religion, literature, and the arts. Images
of Mary Magdalene will serve as a
lens through which to examine changing conceptions of gender, sin, sexuality,
spirituality, the body, and salvation. Sources include literary and artistic
representations from antiquity to contemporary culture.The central question
of the seminar is not "Who was Mary
Magdalene," but
rather how can we read the images of the Magdalene as reflections of varying
religious, social, & cultural
norms?

Readings in the course
will focus on primary textual sources from antiquity, literary and artistic
representations from the history of Christianity, and contemporary images
of Mary Magdalene. Sources will include representations of Mary Magdalene
in: the New Testament and non-canonical gospels, such as the Gospel of Mary
and the Gospel of Philip; post-New Testament legends, sermons, and stories
about the Magdalene; artistic representations in medieval and Renaissance
art; and images of Mary Magdalene in contemporary literature and film. The
final selection of materials will depend in part on the material covered
in our major secondary source, Susan Haskins, Mary Magdalen and
in part on student interest

Required
Readings

These books are
available for purchase in Haverford College Bookstore unless otherwise noted

Susan Haskins, Mary Magdalen

Karen L. King, The Gospel
of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle

Dan Burstein, ed. Secrets
of Mary Magdalene

Esther DeBoer, The Mary
Magdalene Cover-Up[book should be available in HC Bookstore
by 1/30/08]

Jane Lahr, Searching
for Mary Magdalene: A Journey Through Art and Literature [out
of print and not in Bookstore, but you can order a copy online; check
Amazon]

Other readings will be available
in class handouts, online, or from Magill Library Reserve

Recommended for purchase: The
Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha

Course
Outline

Introduction to the Course: Mary
Magdalene in the New Testament, the History of Christianity, and Contemporary
Culture

Mary Magdalene in Ancient Religious
Texts: From the Gospel of Mark through Gregory the Great

The Repentant Magdalene as a
Model for Female Saints and Sinners (Readings may include Catherine of Siena,
Margery Kempe, et al.)

Images of Mary Magdalene in Medieval
and Renaissance painting and sculpture

The Sexualized and Repentant
Magdalens of England, Ireland, and Western Europe

Mary Magdalene in Twentieth Century
Literature and Film

The Resurrection and Reconstruction
of Mary Magdalene in Contemporary Scholarship and Religious Thought

Course Requirements

This is a seminar
course. All students are expected to come prepared to participate
in discussion, to make presentations in class, and to respond actively
to others' postings, comments, and reports.

Two seminar papers of 4-6
pages (40%). A draft of these papers should be prepared by the Tuesday
evening before class and made available on Blackboard. Papers will
be revised and turned in by the next class.

At least one of these
should be a textual analysis and at least one should be analysis of
an artistic image.

Students may work together
for group presentations on artistic images.

A final research paper of
12-15 pages (30%).

Syllabus of
Readings

Week I: 1/23 Introduction to the Course:
Images of Mary Magdalene and the Earliest Sources

Handout: New Testament Passages
in which Mary Magdalene Appears

Week II Mary Magdalene
in New Testament and Other Early Christian Sources

Handout from 1/23: New Testament Passages

Read the NT passages in their larger literary contexts in the New Testament
(NRSV): Those writing papers may select to write on the depiction of Mary
Magdalene and other Disciples in Mark, Luke, or John; or they may
compare the depiction of Mary Magdalene in 2-3 of the Gospels.

The Gospel of Mark:
Focus on 5:21-43; 6:7-13; 7:24-30; 8:34-9:8; 14:3-9; 15:40-16:8 (original
ending; see also the longer ending, 16:9-20)